weight loss

Realize that YOU are important, too!No, seriously. I genuinely mean this statement and I want you to let it sink in. If you are like me, you’ve probably struggled with putting everything and everyone else first and find it incredibly difficult to squeeze in time to even think about taking care of YOU! But, the problem with that mindset is that sooner or later, it will catch up with us. And it most definitely did for me. I found myself facing unexpected health issues related to my lack of taking proper care of myself. And, that’s not where any of us want to be. Right? The good news is that we have a choice. It just takes us realizing it and then doing something about it.

Determine where you need to focus and set your goals. Meal planning, prepping, fitness, personal development, etc. and think about what that looks like for you. Is it as simple as planning out a meal plan for you and your family? Writing out your grocery list, getting your shopping done, and prepping ahead? If so, then make it a priority. Don’t procrastinate. If no one else in the house is willing to commit, that’s okay. Honest. Do it for YOU! You can make small changes in the meal plan by adding in a dish for you. Save the leftovers. Once you start learning how to cook healthy, but delicious meals, you’ll be amazed at how the family will begin to make some changes with you. I share recipes on Here’s To A Healthier Us on Facebook and my Pinterest boards often. Here are the links. “Here’s To A Healthier Us” Facebook Page ~ “Here’s To A Healthier Us ~ Recipes” Pinterest Board ~ Clean Eating Recipes ~ Pinterest Board

Tell those closest to you about your goals and priorities. This helps you with accountability and support. If you keep it to yourself, it is easy to fall off of the wagon because who knew but you? Definitely tell those who will help you in your efforts and even perhaps join you.

Overcome the guilt that tries to creep in.In my case, I struggled with feeling guilty. It would have been very easy to slip back in to old habits and run out the door without my healthy snacks for the day or to skip my superfood shake for breakfast. Skip meals like I had done before or grab fast food because I was too busy to stop and eat. Or, feel like I should eat what everyone else was eating. But, I purposed in my heart that it simply wasn’t an option. If I wanted to feel, look, and perform better and most of all be healthier, I had to overcome the guilt and set myself up for success and you need to do so, too. I recommend that you do the following:

Never Leave the House Hungry.

Plan Your Meals Ahead.

Keep Good Food in the House.

Eliminate the Junk Food (unless there’s someone in the house who is not on board. If that’s the case, then make sure you keep your favorite healthy snacks available).

Learn How to Order When Dining Out. (I’ll share tips on this in a future post).

Always Keep Healthy Snacks Handy. Click the photo for a list of 20 Healthy Snacks from from Skinny Ms.

Schedule time for your fitness routine. It can be as simple as walking. That’s where I started and I’ve lost 60 pounds. Start where you are. I got up earlier than normal and took a 20-30 minute walk each morning. I don’t park close to the door when I go to work or go shopping, I get extra steps in. Take the stairs rather than use the elevator. If you are ready to start an actual fitness routine, there are so many options available on DVD, online, classes, and at the gym. Find one you love…not one you dread. The key is to find what works for you and your schedule. Don’t over commit to something that you can’t maintain. Sometimes we get overzealous and overextend ourselves and quit because we can’t maintain the schedule. I really like what Chalene says, “You are far too amazing to be the only thing standing in your way”.

You can listen to Chalene’s Podcast that I think will really help you if you’ll let it sink in. Here’s the link….

I hope these tips are helpful and you will commit or recommit to making YOU a priority. You deserve it and everyone who depends on you really needs for you to be at your best, too. I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to comment and if you get a chance, please subscribe.

Like this:

Hey there! For those who don’t know me, my name is Rene and I am a wife, mother of three and “Nana” of 6 precious grandbabies. With our kids grown and all married, we’ve been blessed with three more kids. I also work full time in assisted living management and absolutely love working with seniors and their families and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

I’m originally from the South and have lived in Ohio for over 30 years. I’ve been on my own health, fitness and weight loss journey for about a year now and have lost 60 pounds so far. I still want to lose another 30-40 pounds to get back to my ideal body weight. My hope with this blog is that it inspires you in some way whether by providing you with tips, resources, and ideas. Or, helps you to believe in yourself just a little bit more. I believe we have to “Clear our mind of can’t”. So often we think we don’t have time to take care of ourselves, too! That’s simply not true. HONEST. We have to make the time to do it. If not, we can’t be who we need to be for everyone and everything else in our lives.

I wanted to get back to blogging as I really enjoyed it when I attempted it last fall. I’m struggling a bit to figure out what you may be interested in, but I know what I’m always dabbling in on a personal level. So, I thought that’s where I’d start.

I’m thinking more of a “Lifestyle” blog. So, with that said, I guess it will be a little eclectic. Here’s my little list of ideas of potential topics over time. Please let me know what you think.

See, I told you it was a bit eclectic. Ha! Well, I’ve come to realize that it’s okay to have hobbies that I personally enjoy. I thought I’d share some of them in this blog as we go along and share my journey with you. I’d love to hear about yours as well.

In terms of health, fitness, and learning to clean up your diet. I actually don’t even like the word “diet” because that’s not what I’m on. Truly. Me and my husband, Bob have made a “lifestyle” change. In the beginning, it was a bit challenging. But, once I started learning how to cook without adding a pound of butter to our foods (LOL!) and he was able to get full without a bunch of potatoes and bread at each meal, magic started happening for us!

We’ve lost 105 pounds between the two of us. Trust me, remember when I said I from the South, our food doesn’t taste like cardboard either. Our food is delish, it just took me a little time to figure out how to make the switch, but not lose flavor. Bob went South to find a wife and that’s when he found me, 35 years ago, I had to be careful what I did in this area if you know what I mean. He would’ve been very crabby and we would not have succeeded if I hadn’t been able to figure out meals that work for us. Because we have so many things we love now, we don’t crave the crap we use to eat anymore. Yay! Hopefully, I can help you do the same. One tip I have for you right away is to make sure you are drinking water.

In terms of shopping for clean eating, I encourage you to commit to a day of the week when you can go shopping and do your best to stick to it. Think about what you plan to make for the coming week and what you’ll need for snacks, etc. I keep an app on my phone with our normal list of groceries and mark off what we don’t need.

Here’s a shopping list to help you get started with ideas and Pinterest is loaded with recipes. You can follow me on Pinterest as I have a couple of boards with recipes as well. The links are here on my website.

Sundays are a great day to prep for the coming week and to set yourself up for success. So, I thought I’d leave you with this blog from “Back to Her Roots” about prepping food for the week….. Back to Her Roots ~ How I Prep Food for the Week

Thanks for being here and reading my first blog post! I hope you’ll continue to visit and join in this journey to a Healthier Us!

Like this:

Just a Friendly Reminder to Drink your water! Ditch the Gatorade, soda/pop, juices and and even the flavored coffee creamer.

If you love coffee creamer, try adding spices like nutmeg or cinnamon instead! If you really need your creamer, another option is substitute with some almond milk! I’d also like to recommend fruit infused water (I’ll share more about that a little later), but watch this quick video about staying hydrated (with tips on how to jazz up your water so it’s not so boring).

Top 5 Tips to Lose Weight and Stay Hydrated ~ Autumn Fitness

Here are Just a Few Benefits of Water

2/3 of the human body is made of water, muscle is made up of 75% water and the brain a whopping 90%! So you can SEE why this needs to be a priority.

I also recommend you start your day with drinking water. It helps me immensely! If I don’t start my day with it, I don’t drink it throughout the day. I find myself actually craving it if I start drinking it first thing in the morning and I love my coffee. So, this has been a habit I’ve developed over time. I still drink my coffee, too.

Here’s a link for you about drinking Warm Lemon Water and the health benefits of it. Pretty crazy what it will do for our health. I still need to commit to this one.

I hope these tips help you. It’s normally said that we should drink 8 – 8 ounce glasses of water each day, but I’ve learned that we should be drinking half of our body weight in ounces. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water each day.

Commit to drinking more water today than you did yesterday and challenge yourself. You’ll be amazed and what you are able to do! Clear your mind of “Can’t”! Feel free to share your thoughts and comments. I’d love to hear from you.